


a heart of stone, eggshells for bones

by avosettas



Series: human concepts [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Hetalia Countries Using Human Names, Past Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Texting, Vampires, matthias honey deal w ur trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:00:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26017672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avosettas/pseuds/avosettas
Summary: “You’re a vampire,” Matthias says, a little disbelieving.“I’m a vampire!” Aurel cheers.
Relationships: Denmark & Moldova (Hetalia), Denmark & Romania (Hetalia), Pre-Denmark/Norway (Hetalia)
Series: human concepts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1752607
Kudos: 5





	a heart of stone, eggshells for bones

**Author's Note:**

> working on finishing this series... this is probably the one fic in it that doesn't stand alone
> 
> tumblr @ asriells

He comes to in a bed a leaves, wings spread beneath him. Moonlit shows in thin streaks between the leaves above him, and Matthias blinks. Then he cringes, hard. His head is throbbing. 

Besides him, the leaves crackle. Something big. 

He raises his head and flinches. 

“Oooh!” The child beside him cheers. “You’re awake!” 

“Get away from me,” Matthias orders, but his heart isn’t in it. He remembers the last time he spoke to a child. _I am going to eat your heart when that happens, and I will not mourn you._

“I’m Aurel,” this child says, grinning with all of his teeth. It looks more like a grimace, and it strikes Matthias a bit late that he’s doing it to show off the teeny little fangs he has. 

“You’re a vampire,” Matthias says, a little disbelieving. 

“I’m a vampire!” Aurel cheers. Matthias lets his head fall back into the leaves. Black spots swim in front of his eyes. 

He doesn’t hear what Aurel says next. 

~

The next time he wakes, it’s in a small bedroom. Barely room for anything but the twin bed and the little bookshelf beside it. Late afternoon sunlight streams feebly through the closed curtains, and he can make out some of the books beside the lamp: _We Have Always Lived In The Castle_ , _Dictionary of Superstitions_ , _The House of Seven Gables_...

“Good morning.” Matthias startles. He didn’t hear the door creak. Black feathers flutter down into his vision - they’re coming out of his hair. The man looks amused - tiny fangs peek out from the upturned corners of his mouth. “Nachtkrapp?” 

“Valravn,” Matthias replies, raising his wings a bit. 

“Ah. That explains the smell of child’s blood.” 

“Don’t,” Matthias says softly, his voice cracking. “I didn’t - I didn’t want to do it.” 

The man does the same grimace Aurel had done - his fangs are bigger than Aurel’s, maybe a bit duller with wear. “Don’t I know it.”

~

His name, Matthias finds out, is Andrei, and Aurel is his younger brother. They’re vampires, but Matthias doesn’t ask how old they are. Aside from the small animals of the woods surrounding their house, they’re vegetarians.

Everytime he looks at Aurel, Matthias sees the children he was going to kill before the one he did. And he sees the single one he did, too. 

So he leaves, maybe a month later. Andrei helps him find someplace to live. They don’t see each other often, because Andrei and Aurel are basically hermits, and Matthias has a new job shelving books at the public library.

~

 **batman:** aurel wants 2 kno when ur coming 4 dinner

~

 **hamlet:** Bro can you PLEASE text w/ correct grammar OMG

~

 **batman:** no u

~

Life is stagnant for a bit, and that’s good. It’s very good, a nice change from flitting from hospital to hospital, looking for a child ~~to kill~~ to break his curse. 

He sees Andrei and Aurel for dinner every other Wednesday. Aurel regales him with a summary of the latest book he’s been reading, and Andrei makes a stir fry or something similar, usually, with vegetables from his back garden. He borrows books from them. 

He borrows books from work, too. Annotated volumes of Hans Christian Andersen; thin books about taking care of cockatiels and parakeets, usually aimed at children, because he’s terrible at taking care of his wings; philosophical memoirs; and books to process trauma. ~~He only takes them out to get Andrei off his back~~. 

~

 **batman:** there r magical therapists u kno

~

 **hamlet:** I’m fine, Andrei. 

~

He thinks about ~~the kid he killed~~ _Peter_ , he didn’t kill him, just ~~desecrated his corpse~~ didn’t help him like he could have as an RN almost daily. 

His body was tiny. His heart was tiny. 

Matthias remembers the taste of it very, very well. He’d like nothing more than to forget it. (He goes through a lot of Listerine, trying to get that phantom taste out of his mouth.)

~

“Excuse me!” Matthias does a double take. A child ~~Peter?~~ stands in front of his cart, with bright blue, almost violet eyes, and snow white hair. Matthias blinks multiple times. 

Finally, after too many seconds have passed, he says, “What can I help you with?” 

“I’m looking for books on puffins!” 

Puffins. Birds. Bird books. He knows where those are, sure. He still opens and closes his mouth a few times, like a fish. 

“Emil?” The man walking up is nearly identical to the child - darker hair, maybe, and darker eyes, and freckles. 

Matthias shakes his head a bit. “Sorry. Yeah. Puffins. Over this way.” 

~

 **batman:** lmao did u ask him out yet

~

 **hamlet:** We’re getting dinner tomorrow. He’s bringing Emil, too.

~

 **batman:** godspeed u funky little valravn


End file.
